A southern Tasmanian man is among 86 people facing charges around the country after a Federal police crackdown on illicit firearms.
The seizure of seven guns, including four illegal gel blaster replicas, from a Nubeena property – which included an underground bunker (pictured below) has seen the man charged with 10 counts of unregistered firearm possession among other offences.
Across the country, 523 firearms were seized as part of a week of action involving multiple law enforcement agencies across the country.
Operation Athena, a national law enforcement group comprising of police from jurisdictions across Australia and Federal agencies including Australian Border Force (ABF) and Australian Federal Police (AFP), undertook a week of action across Australia to target illicit firearms.
The co-ordinated strikes between 23 October and 29 October led to a number of arrests and seizures of firearms and firearm parts.
During the ABF-led week of action authorities also seized a number of gel blasters, which are of increasing concern, given they can look identical to real handguns, shotguns and rifles.
The colour, size and detail of seized gel blasters makes it difficult for anyone to see the difference between a toy and a real firearm.
Images: supplied
